Stanley was waiting, as promised, with the rental car as we emerged from the cruiser’s trail at high noon. The Honda Civic had a broken trunk latch, courtesy of the last renters, but was otherwise in reasonable condition. Knowing it would take a couple of weeks to get a new latch, the lid now has a piece of heavy wire with which to secure it. After dropping Stan off at his house, we headed south on the Queens Highway for our first day of land touring.
The island lives up to its name being 76 miles long. Our first stop was at the oldest Anglican church on LI. It no longer had a roof, but the beams were there creating interesting shadows on the floors and walls.
Next we were off on a quest to find beaches with Sea Beans. These are seeds that have floated over from Africa or Spain. Hamburger and Heart beans are the most prized. The roads off the Queens Highway are unpaved and proved to be challenging in our slightly aged Civic. We now know why it needs new shocks.
Cresting a hill, a beautiful bay protected by reefs came into view with an intriguing Island. The island appeared to have an abandoned stone house and a large pyramid shaped stone structure. If it had been slack tide we might have been able to swim out to the island, but since it wasn’t and the reefs prevented much from washing up on the beach, we moved on. The second beach we found was called Turtle Cove. Here we found all kinds of trash that had washed up from the Atlantic along with lots of Sea Beans. Noah turned out to be a good collector after a little help from Wayne and Jill who planted a couple of beans to get him started. There was beach almost as far as we could see, and there was no one else there.
After pulling ourselves away from Turtle Cove we drove all the way to the end of Queens Highway to Gordons, at the south end of the island. Driving across a small causeway between two salt ponds we noticed a sailboat up on the beach in the distance. Walking towards the southern tip of the island we met some interesting creatures, one a long armed sea star and another the first big land crab we’ve seen. Found several sea biscuits and starfish in the shallow waters. Lots of clothing was washed up along the shoreline. Coming to the last bay there was a beat up looking boat that had washed ashore with more clothing aboard. Probably refugees from Haiti that washed ashore here. These folks are determined and brave when they set out in these small boats filled with people and their few possessions.
As dusk approached we were in Clarence Town where we stopped to see the Flying Fish marina. Good views of the Atlantic and some off lying Cays. While checking out the menu at the open air restaurant we were accosted by mosquitos, the first that had found us since getting to the Bahamas. We went back into town and found the Harbour View Restaurant where they had screens on the windows and good food at reasonable prices. Fish, conch, and mutton were all good. Had Guava Duff for dessert, a local favorite that is bread with a warm guava sauce.
On the way back north we sighted something that looked out of place in the road ahead. Slowing down, we passed an elderly man on Donkey. The island has many churches, especially in relationship to the population. Mostly Anglican, with a few Catholic and Baptist churches as well. The homes are nicer than those on other islands we’ve visited and the people are all very welcoming. Back at Thompson’s Bay we opened the old gate and drove the car down to our “private” dinghy marina for the night.
Meeting again at 0730 we headed North to Cape Santa Maria. At the end of the Highway we headed out on to a dirt road. It was a challenge for the Honda to make it up the hills where the road had washed down leaving lots of rocks. It took us about twenty minutes to make the three miles to the cape. Wayne did a great job keeping us from getting stuck along the way. The view made it well worth the bouncy road. We climbed up the hill to the edge of white cliffs overlooking the reefs where Christopher Colombus ran the Santa Maria aground, his third stop in the new world. A monument was dedicated to the Lucayans that lived here before Colombus and to the voyager.
Heading back to return the car by noon we stopped in Stella Maris where there are beautiful vacation homes perched on cliffs with great views of the Atlantic. Not many beaches, but wonderful vistas. Also found the Coral Gardens which are reefs just off the shore. One has to get into the water from the coral rock ledges so I would want a calmer day to venture in.
Returning the car to Stanley’s house, Stanley gave us a stalk of bananas from his orchard. He’s 72 and still working hard. Dropped us back at the Cruiser’s Path and we spent most of the afternoon getting the boat ready to head back to Georgetown on Saturday. We enjoyed our visit to Long Island and only touched the surface of the things to do here.